SPLA general arrested for importation of arms, training of troops

March 21, 2007 (JUBA) ? A Southern Sudan army general is arrested since two days to investigate illegal importation of arms, and because he sent troops to Uganda for training without the knowledge of the army.

According to the Gurtong website, the head of political and moral orientation for the Sudan People?s Liberation Army (SPLA), Major General Isaac Mamur, is under arrest since Tuesday.

Mamur, one of the top six members of the SPLA under the Commander in Chief and president of the South Salva Kiir, has been accused of importing guns, pistol pouches and ammunitions into the South as well as cars without the authority of the SPLA head quarters.

He also has been accused of taking a platoon of soldiers for training in Uganda without the authority or knowledge of the SPLA leadership, a move Kuol says is still mysterious.

Mamur also hired three members of the Ugandan army as drivers. These were added to a group of some 50 bodyguards and drivers, which Kuol says is more than the eight staff allowed for SPLA personnel of Mamur?s rank.

They are all under open arrest and have had their weapons confiscated, Gurtong disclosed.

According to the London based Asharq Al-Awsat, General Mamur had refused to surrender to the SPLA, but general Paulino Matip convinced him to go to the arrest so that investigation will take it is course.

Mamur headed up a committee overseeing the integration of the former other armed group, the South Sudan Defence Force (SSDF) of Paulino Matip into the SPLA in 2006. However, he has been accused on continuing to sign contracts for the provision of food to the ex-SSDF soldiers in Juba long after his mandate to do so ended.

?The Commander in Chief has ordered staff to form an investigation committee to check if charges are true or not, if they are not true he will go back to his duties, if found to be true, he will face court martial,? said Kuol.